Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Reader to Incendiary


So, today is Wednesday and I only have a few days left of my externship (a post acute rehab/skilled nursing facility). As a farewell to me from my site, we are having a cookie exchange and I am hosting a jeopardy game with occupational therapy and physical therapy. I'm setting it up so OT is on one team and PT is on the other. Everyone is looking forward to it! Normally the therapy gym at my site is so fast pace that we don't really have time to sit back and have a little fun. I baked my cookies tonight. I decided to make macadamia nut cookies. I baked them tonight because I was trying a new recipe, and if I messed them up I wanted another day to be able to bake a new batch. Here is the recipe I used: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies Chip taste tested them and said they were delicious!

I finished The Reader last night. As I was reading it, I started to remember the movie. It was almost like watching the movie in my head. I liked the story of the book, but I didn't love the writing. I am very picky when it comes to writing style. I prefer books with lots of dialogue as compared to a lot of narrative. I don't like it when the author describes what the person says rather than just writing how the person would say it. This book had a lot of narrative. It's set in Germany in the 1940s. A teenage boy has an inappropriate relationship with an older woman. They have a strange romance, until she disappears. Then, as he is studying law in college, he discovers her on trial for a horrific Holocaust crime. She has a secret about herself that she never wanted anyone to know. This secret may even prolong her prison sentence. If you've read this book and have comments, do post!

What am I reading now?
Incendiary by Chris Cleve
According to the dictionary, "incendiary" means: of or pertaining to the criminal setting on fire of property
 
The story is a written as a letter from a woman to Osama Bin Laden (obviously written before Osama's death in the end of April). There aren't any chapters in the book, and it's definitely missing a lot of commas which makes it difficult and annoying. I think the author is trying to create the point of view of an uneducated woman. I've only read about 20 pages so far. Here is an excerpt: 

"There's a reward of 25 millions dollars on your head but don't lose sleep on my account Osama. I have no information leading to your arrest or capture. I have no information full effing stop. I'm what you'd call and infidel and my husband called working-class. There is a difference you know. But just supposing I did clap eyes on you. Supposing I saw you driving a Nissan Primera down toward Shoreditch and grassed you to the old bill. Well. I wouldn't know how to spend 25 million dollars. It's not as if I've got anyone to spend it on since you blew up my husband and my boy." (p. 1) 

I'm off to put my cookies away, clean the kitchen, read a few more pages and then watch "Love in the Wild" on NBC with Chip. -Jacq

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday

 Happy Sunday Biblomaniacs

This morning I slept in 'til about 10:30, brewed some coffee, watched "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC, and then indulged into the final 1/4 of my book Maine.It was SO good. What I really liked about this book is that even though it chronicles 4 women (changing views from each chapter) it is all in 3rd person. Sometimes when I am reading books that change from person to person in 1st person, it takes me a minute to get back into that person's head. 
As I said, the book chronicles 4 women. The first 3/4 of the book is getting to know the characters, learning their secrets, their pasts, and what they think about the other women. It shows how rumors get started among family members, how stories get exaggerated, and also how long grudges can be held.
When you know someone well you gain a certain perspective of them and crown them "this kind of person". A "perfect" person, a "sensitive" person, a "know it all" person. Although we see people certain ways, it is not always they see themselves. This book was very good about describing how each character was perceived by the other 3 women, then you see the other woman and learn how she views herself. For example, the character Ann Marie is viewed as "Miss Perfect" by Alice, Kathleen, and Maggie. All of her children appear to be successful. Her house is always perfect. Her marriage is perfect. Then, when you get into her chapters you learn that her children are far from perfect, that she resents some of the housework, and that she and her husband sleep in different beds. It really made me think about how I perceive people and how it is probably not at all how they perceive themselves.
I won't spoil the story for all of you, but I think this book is going down as one of my all time favorite summer reads! I hope you all read it and then let me know what you thought about it. I finished the book very sad because I wanted to keep reading!! 
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As I said in a previous post, I am on the waiting list for A Stolen Life, the Jacyee Dugard memoir. Still no e-mail saying that I can pick it up. I meant to go to the library and get the book One Day by David Nichols, but I checked online and the Upper Arlington Library is still without air conditioning. No thank you. So, I rooted through my books from my friend Erin and decided to read the book The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I have seen the movie, but I hardly remember it. I think it's going to be a quick read and so far it's pretty good. 

Keep reading biblomaniacs. 
-Jacqueline